My hands are freakishly small and fundamentally unattractive, not helped by my cuticle-picking habit. It also means no standard-sized bangles fit me, because they are made with standard-sized hands in mind and they slide straight off my wrists and over my hands. This is a terrible shame because I have always had dreams of wearing one or two slim gold bangles, tinkling gently together, which might slide out of the way while I am typing and then not slop back over my hand and directly on to the floor while I’m doing something else. I admire but don’t understand women who wear a lot of heavy bangles and bracelets all up one wrist. Even the thought of it makes me feel really claustrophobic. But then you know what a fiend I am about accessories.
Then I remembered: Etsy! On there is a shop called SpeckledHeart, which makes gold bangles in all different sizes. So I ordered two, which were reassuringly expensive at £85 for the pair and arrived within a week. Long-time readers of the Spike will recall that I believe a fundamental building block of any wardrobe is a pair of medium-sized gold hoop earrings – I think these bangles might be just as key. They just add a tiny flash and tinkle to any outfit that turns it from ordinary to finished. And now you can get them in all sizes, there’s no excuse.
I can’t believe how much this post speaks to me lol. I have small hands and wrists so have never really been able to wear bangles, love the look of them but equally the idea of wearing a lot of them makes me feel claustrophobic. It’s like a pie crust/frilly collar, I love the look but the reality is just too much for my tiny mind to cope with…
You are not alone. Ditto necklaces for me. I love them on other people but when I wear them I feel like I’m being strangled.
I am wearing 2 right now and it’s ideal- just enough to feel dressed but not so much that they get in the way. even one would work.
These are lovely. I used to wear a lot of bangles as I went through a teen Janis Joplin obsession – we had the same hair – and had always worn at least one since I was quite young, but I completely reduced jewellery since having children, everything felt uncomfortable or in the way, and I‘ve never got it back. I have experimented with wearing a bangle again from time to time or they’ve been purchased for me and I haven’t liked them (he won’t read this) and it is really hard to find something unobtrusive. I react to earrings which aren’t sterling or gold plated too so it’s all very simple now, the blue and red dangly bunnies have to stay in the drawer (it’s probably for the best all things considered). I compensate by having many variations of the gold hoop – Orelia are good for this.
I’ve noticed no one has commented on this post which has prompted me to leave a reply in case there have been email glitches again. I also didn’t comment about missing your posts, and I did miss them. Very pleased to be getting regular ones again. The whole social media thing really struck a cord with me. I set a timer for 15 minutes and had failed by 7 am…..
On the bracelet thing, I look at women with multiple bracelets, on the above social media, thinking, how much dirt are those bracelets collecting? They can’t possibly be washing their hands properly. Imagine the gunge collecting everywhere. And as for cooking with all those dangly things hanging off your wrists? Surely that’s dangerous? They might catch fire And running? Pictures of people running ‘The Marathon’ with multiple things clanking away. How are they not really annoyed by them?
I going now. To measure my wrists and assess whether I am worthy of buying those bangles.
Petra! There are comments they clearly aren’t showing up!! This is beyond infuriating as it makes me look very unpopular. I share all of your thoughts about bangles
Etsy is the place for handmade jewellery!! I use a gorgeous small businees called Unwound silver. She makes silver bangles to pretty much any size. I had a knotted bangle made for my daughters birthday and a beautiful bangle made for my sister. She is always very helpful, so worth a look if you fancy a silver one! in fact, she just made me a pair of star stud earrings.. my go-to for all special presents.
Thanks so much Esther – as ever you are the only Style advisor I need in my life!
This is also good intel for those of us with the opposite problem. I’m not even that super tall but I have to source hats, gloves and often shoes from the men’s department. Off the shelf bangles are a no go (flashbacks to sweating in the Topshop accessories corner trying to wrestle a bracelet back over my knuckles). I am quite good at opening jars though.
My recommendation: https://bebangles.co/collections/all/clasp?sort_by=manual
Thanks for the recommendation!! Nikki @Be Bangles x